Geographic coincidence of increased malaria transmission hazard and vulnerability occurring at the periphery of two Tanzanian villages

Russell, Tanya L., Lwetoijera, Dickson, Knols, Bart G J, Takken, Willem, Killeen, Gerry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8583-8739 and Kelly-Hope, Louise ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3330-7629 (2013) 'Geographic coincidence of increased malaria transmission hazard and vulnerability occurring at the periphery of two Tanzanian villages'. Malaria Journal, Vol 12, :24.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND
The goal of malaria elimination necessitates an improved understanding of any fine-scale geographic variations in transmission risk so that complementary vector control tools can be integrated into current vector control programmes as supplementary measures that are spatially targeted to maximize impact upon residual transmission. This study examines the distribution of host-seeking malaria vectors at households within two villages in rural Tanzania.
METHODS

Host-seeking mosquitoes were sampled from 72 randomly selected households in two villages on a monthly basis throughout 2008 using CDC light-traps placed beside occupied nets. Spatial autocorrelation in the dataset was examined using the Moran's I statistic and the location of any clusters was identified using the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic. Statistical associations between the household characteristics and clusters of mosquitoes were assessed using a generalized linear model for each species.

RESULTS
For both Anopheles gambiae sensu lato and Anopheles funestus, the density of host-seeking females was spatially autocorrelated, or clustered. For both species, houses with low densities were clustered in the semi-urban village centre while houses with high densities were clustered in the periphery of the villages. Clusters of houses with low or high densities of An. gambiae s.l. were influenced by the number of residents in nearby houses. The occurrence of high-density clusters of An. gambiae s.l. was associated with lower elevations while An. funestus was also associated with higher elevations. Distance from the village centre was also positively correlated with the number of household occupants and having houses constructed with open eaves.

CONCLUSION
The results of the current study highlight that complementary vector control tools could be most effectively targeted to the periphery of villages where the households potentially have a higher hazard (mosquito densities) and vulnerability (open eaves and larger households) to malaria infection.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	QX Parasitology > Insects. Other Parasites > QX 515 Anopheles WB Practice of Medicine > Medical Climatology > WB 700 Medical climatology. Geography of disease WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 750 Malaria WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 765 Prevention and control
Faculty: Department:	Biological Sciences > Department of Tropical Disease Biology Biological Sciences > Vector Biology Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-12-24
Depositing User:	Mary Creegan
Date Deposited:	16 Jul 2014 09:34
Last Modified:	16 Sep 2019 10:12
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/3803

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